NOW IN CommunicationsArticles in technology for E Street customers...

When it comes time to setup software services and a server for your company, colocation with a reputable data center offers a lot of advantages. It's easy enough to throw a server into an unused closet and call it a day...

When it comes time to setup software services and a server for your company, colocation with a reputable data center offers a lot of advantages. It's easy enough to throw a server into an unused closet and call it a day. But if reliability is critical, you'll need, at a minimum; a reliable always-on Internet connection with sufficient upload and download speeds, an uninterruptible power supply with standby batteries, and proper ventilation to name a few.

Internet Access - While the Internet has matured to a point where it is mostly reliable, there is no guarantee that a typical office connection can offer 100 percent uptime. Colocation facilities are built from the ground up to offer very little, if any, downtime. They connect to multiple Internet backbones, with symmetrical upload and download enterprise grade circuits (many standard residential / small business level circuits come with slower upload speeds) ensuring that if one connection goes down, another is ready to take over without any interruption in service. They use redundant, carrier grade switches, monitored 24 x 7 to ensure reliability failover in case of hardware failure.

Power - It's a fact of life that at some point, your power will go out…and Internet connections drop. A reputable facility will have redundant, uninterruptible power supplies to keep servers running during brief outages. And for extended periods, a generator backs up the power supplies to ensure no loss of downtime or data due to a power outage.

Environmental - Another overlooked aspect of housing your own servers is the amount of heat they generate. A server in a closet without proper ventilation can rapidly overheat, causing unreliable operation and rapid component failure. Besides the server, add in the need for an uninterruptable power supply and a switch and a closet can heat up very quickly. A colo facility keeps your servers cool and running efficiently.